How's Internet over powerline coming along?

[Nickyct]

I read Google was investing in it couple months ago and we don't really hear much talk about it. Is it being tested still?
I would really love to have more than one choice in my area.
Right now I have cable and DSL is way too slow. Fios is not available in my area yet.
Would be nice if we could pick our internet like cell phone carriers.

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: Nickyct
I read Google was investing in it couple months ago and we don't really hear much talk about it. Is it being tested still?
I would really love to have more than one choice in my area.
Right now I have cable and DSL is way too slow. Fios is not available in my area yet.
Would be nice if we could pick our internet like cell phone carriers.

The major stumbling point I recall at a conference (back in... '05?) were that it required replacing almost every transformer that was required to pass bandwidth. That's a massive expense for power companies, especially those that are non-regulated. Regulated power companies may not even be able to compete in the ISP markets, regardless of equipment compatibility, due to varying state-to-state regulations.

It still holds great promise, but I think the cost of entry-to-market is difficult to justify even if you already have lines to everyone's houses. Now, if they get all hot'n'heavy over AMR, that might change things based on what kind of subsidizing they could get to piggyback that technology on top of an IP link through powerline to the premise.

 

[PingSpike]

I remember they were having trouble interference with HAM radios I believe. Did they ever solve that?

 

[p0lar]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I remember they were having trouble interference with HAM radios I believe. Did they ever solve that?

I don't recall that being a major issue, but I'll ask a friend of mine who's still close to a regulated power company. Actually, I'll just check his pulse on the affair as a whole and see what their feelings are on it. Surprisingly, I still hold it in much higher regard than the likes of WiMax, which still struggles to deliver on ANYTHING it promised almost 5 years ago. :roll: I digress....

 

[Nickyct]

Didn't google invest like a bilion dollars on it.
That would be a waste of money.
I think Fiber is the way to go.

 

[JackMDS]

Let put this way, if you need Broadband look elsewhere.

If you are looking to invest money there are better industries to invest in.

On a side Note, one must be careful interpreting investments of big Corporation; many times it is not a sign for viable development in the field that they invest in. Due to tax consideration alliances and other variables it means nothing functional, do not expect them to tell you, their press release would always be the standard Pollyanna statement.

 

[cmetz]

Nickyct, broadband over powerline is a neat idea, and it works in research trials, but in the real world it's not working so well.

Telcos and cable companies are both currently investing a whole lot of resources into getting fiber to the home (Verizon) or at least to the neighborhood (cable cos, AT&T). So folks who have communication-grade cabling are hitting the wall of what they can do with it, and replacing all or most of it with fiber, in order to remain competitive. Power lines and power distribution equipment (transformers, load switches, etc.) are most definitely not communication-grade. It's not realistic to believe that you can move data across those lines and that equipment and end up with performance that would be competitive with fiber to the neighborhood. It's already proven to be very iffy to get data performance that could compete with DSL and cable data services, and that's in limited trials, not widespread deployment.

The only realistic use I can see of BPN is as a last-mile solution from the neighborhood fiber node to the home. But even then it's proven to be inferior to telco twisted-pair cable and coax cable.

If you're looking for a "third pipe" solution, I think that wireless (e.g., WiMax) is a much more realistic medium than powerline. I won't say that powerline can't happen, but right now all indications is that it won't be competitive with the telco and cable options.

 

[MadAmos]

I just saw this today Link Sees like some progress has been made.

Amos

 

[Modelworks]

Yes there are issues with ham radios and powerline broadband.
ARRL has been one of the major opponents.
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/


I think the technology will be surpassed by other means.
Its an expensive method and it isn't really impressive speed wise.

 

[Nocturnal]

I agree, I think fiber is the way to go.